Falling to Smile
by DarkAngelOfSorrowReturns
Summary: Harry had failed before when he had fallen, but with unknowing help from Hermione and Draco, he could fall with a smile. Muggle!AU, Birthday fic for Blue Rose (spittingllama7856) Warning inside.


**A/N: Written for HSWW (Challenges and Assignments) and for Blue Rose (spittingllama7856)! Happy Birthday :)**

 **Assignment #9: Divination Task: Tea leaves** \- write about someone falling down. **Extra prompt** : Muggle!AU

 **Jingle Bell Song Challenge:** Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! by Frank Sinatra: (word) delightful

 **Decorating the Christmas Tree:** D3 - (dialogue) "I'm going to feed you to my tarantula."

 **Disability Day:** Disability!AU (PTSD)

 **Amber's Attic: Strength:** write about someone overcoming an obstacle

 **Book of the Month:** Magnus Chase: (setting) bridge, (genre) friendship, (word) peace

 **Showtime:** My Freeze Ray - (word) mumbling

 **Around the World in Thirty-One Days:** 134\. Paraguay - word: Pressure

 **Word Count:** 2,282

 **Warnings:** It's light triggering as the PTSD is mentioned but I figured warning just in case!

* * *

" _Daddy you're going too fast!" Harry cried. It was his seventh birthday; he knew this because he counted how many candles his mother tried to hide in her bag._

" _I'm driving as safely as I can, squirt," his father chuckled lightly._

 _Not too long before then did Harry hear swerving. Then the car started to get smaller, crushing them on the inside._

" _Mummy!" Harry screamed, scrambling to get to her. She grabbed him, and his father tried to break them out._

 _Harry saw the car they had hit still moving, and it ended up pushing them out the doors. His mother and father fell over the bridge while Harry was lying near the edge. After he stood up and saw his parents falling to the raging waters beneath the bridge, but he didn't do anything._

 _Harry was frozen. He was scared and didn't do anything for them as they screamed. Suddenly a blast came from behind him, and Harry was pushed off the bridge from the force. He shouted for their help, reaching for them._

" _Love you, Harry…"_

 _He didn't reach them in time; they were gone. Someone was taking him away from them; he didn't save them._

 _It was too late._

Harry shot up awake; his hair stuck to him head from sweat. He groaned, looking over to the clock; it was after one o'clock in the afternoon.

He sat up and sighed; he had slept in late again. Fortunately, it was the weekend and the station had granted him some time off.

Memories from the past were resurfacing from the past, and the 'traumatic stress' that Hermione emphasized that he had wasn't too fond of it. As much as he didn't want to get up, the constant, loud knock on his door wouldn't allow him that.

Groaning, Harry moved out of his bedroom to the front room to answer the door; he didn't bother drawing the curtains as he welcomed the darkness it brought.

When he opened the door, he came face to face with Draco Malfoy. Malfoy held his hands up in surrender. "I come in peace," he said with a sly grin.

Harry glanced up to the ceiling, mumbling something before clearing his throat and looking back to Malfoy. "What can I do for you today, Malfoy?" he asked with an unenthusiastic tone.

Malfoy gave an offended look. "Is that any way to treat an acquaintance? I'm deeply wounded," he said.

Harry rolled his eyes before sighing. "Did Hermione put you up to this again?" he asked.

Malfoy raised a finger to object, but another arm came into view and linked with his. A head of bushy, chocolate brown curls popped into view, so Malfoy took a small step back to give her room.

"If you must know, Harry, that Malfoy offered to come by this time himself," Hermione said matter-of-fact. She looked into Harry's eyes, and Harry could tell she was trying to read his expression. He knew she couldn't; Harry had gotten much better at it over the last few months since the memories resurfaced.

He gave her a forced smile as his hand gripped the door. "As you can see, I am fine," he said as he started to close the door, "so if that's all you wanted…" Harry trailed off and almost closed the door, but Malfoy used his foot to keep it from completely closing.

"Actually, Potter," Malfoy started, "we're getting you out of this dreary flat of yours."

"Oh?" Harry leaned against the door, but kept it in its place. "And how do you think you're going to manage that?"

"For one things, I can drag you by that cheap material you call–" Malfoy said before Hermione interrupted him.

"What he means to say," Hermione said as she sent Malfoy a glare, "is that the fair is in town for the weekend, and we thought that it would be good to go and have some fun later." She bit her lip and cast her eyes down briefly before meeting Harry's eye again.

Harry pursed his lips; the fair was the last thing on his mind. He would rather stay in his flat and stare at the wall. Though he knew in the back of his mind if Hermione was willing to 'have fun' with both him and Malfoy knowing that the last time she tried ended up with birds in her hair, then Harry couldn't say no.

Though he really wanted to say no.

"Alright," Harry said simply.

"Alright?" Malfoy repeated. "That's all you have to say? Alright? We would appreciate a little bit more–"

"Brilliant!" Hermione interrupted with a smile.

Malfoy scowled. "Interrupt me again, woman," he threatened.

"Or what?" Hermione challenged, folding her arms.

"I'm going to feed you to my tarantula," Malfoy replied.

"You don't even _have_ a tarantula." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Then I'll buy one and feed you to him."

Harry shook his head as the pair in front of him bickered. He tried shutting the door by pushing it harder on Malfoy's foot. The impact had the effect he wanted because Malfoy yelped and withdrew his foot from the door. As he shut it, Harry could hear Malfoy shouting along the lines 'You're going to pay for that!', and Hermione scolding him on how it was his fault.

As the voices began to fade away from his door, Harry cracked the smallest, sincere smile he could muster. Maybe it was a distraction that he was needing.

* * *

It was a hot summer day: perfect for a day at the fair. Harry looked up at the sky; it was dotted with a few candy-floss clouds. The entrance could be seen in the distance and the long queues edged forward slowly. Harry, Malfoy, and Hermione arrived and saw customers were becoming increasingly excited and impatient as they took a few steps forward every so often. Faint music reached Harry's ears from beyond the tall gates with the occasional happy scream suddenly piercing the air.

He shivered lightly; hearing the scream brought back flashes of his nightmares.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked, hoping to take the focus away from his thoughts.

Malfoy snorted. "Weasel wanted to stay as far from me and as close to his bloody girlfriend as possible," he replied.

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms. "Basically Ronald mentioned that we're still bonkers for associating with Malfoy while he convorts with the likes of Lavender."

Malfoy mocked gasped before Harry could reply. "How delightful! I'm such a rotten, evil person that poisons anything I touch. Whatever shall I do?" he recited dramatically and sarcastically.

"Come off it, Malfoy. You haven't been that way entirely since I punched you five years ago; Ronald just doesn't want to accept that," Hermione said with a frown.

"Did you have to bring up the punch?" Malfoy groaned.

"Why not, Malfoy," Harry said with a small grin, "it's the best part."

Malfoy made snorted harshly while Hermione snickered on his other side. They were closer to the entrance, and some of the massive structures of the rides could be seen: a rollercoaster, a big wheel, a tall tower of some sort, and a big top tent the performers would be located.

Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more screams pierced his ears.

" _Mummy!"_

He opened and clenched his fists anxiously.

" _Daddy, help!"_

Harry's breathing became ragged.

" _Please, Mummy, please!"_

He shook his head swiftly.

" _Harry…"_

There was water...so much water. He couldn't breath.

" _Potter!"_

Harry gasped and opened his eyes to see Malfoy and Hermione staring at him. He looked around and was grateful when the crowd's attention was elsewhere. Harry shook his head, wiping the sweat that quickly formed from his brow.

"I'm fine," Harry told them unconvincingly.

"But Harry–" Hermione stepped towards him, but Harry held a hand out to stop her.

"I said I'm fine," he snapped.

Harry watched as Hermione frowned and opened her mouth; however, Malfoy covered it swiftly. "Granger, there are only so many words that you can say in a day. Heaven knows you say a lot of them," he drawled with a smirk.

That smirk was quickly replaced with pain as Hermione bit his hand. "Yeow! Hasn't anyone told you that violence is not the answer," he snarled, taking his bitten hand and caressing it with the other hand.

Hermione gave a smug smile. "Perhaps," she said cooly as she glanced over at Harry. Harry simply gave a soft nod and went to pay for his tickets.

* * *

An array of blue, red, yellow, and orange surrounded the trio from the tops of the fair rides. There was a plethora of stands and games that they were tempted to play by the workers, and the laughter and chatter from others resonating through the air nearly kept Harry out of his funk.

That is, until they neared the tower that Harry saw from afar near the entrance. It's tall, looming structure was intimidating, and Harry's eyes widened when he saw someone falling from it.

He could hear the person's screams, reminding him of his own every time he woke up from his nightmares. He was rooted to the spot, unable to help the person like he couldn't help his parents. Neither Hermione's or Malfoy's voice could shake him away from watching as the person fell to their supposed death.

Except they didn't. Their screams were filled with fear _and_ joy; and Harry watched as the person was suddenly pulled right back. That's when he noticed the cords the person was attached to.

His lips parted slightly as gears shifted in his head. Harry glanced over towards the two he arrived with and found them bickering once more. Looking at how close they were in each other's face, Harry knew that they wouldn't notice him slip away.

Harry did just that and weaved through the sea of people in front of the ride. He turned around to see if Hermione or Malfoy had followed him; they had not, but he knew they would figure out he wandered off soon enough.

He couldn't waste time. Harry approached the front of the tower, cursing at how visible he'll be as he climbed up to the platform; it wouldn't matter though because it would be too late for either of them to talk him down.

He just wanted to see something, despite how illogical as he knew Hermione would think it sounded.

* * *

The ground was no longer within reach for Harry. He looked down briefly, blinking twice at how far things were from the platform he stood on.

At some point during his climb, Malfoy and Hermione spotted him and were standing close by, no doubt blaming one another for losing Harry in the first place.

Wiping the sweat from his palms, Harry glanced at the worker who looked at him curiously while suiting him up for the jump. "Are you sure you want to do this, sir?" the worker asked him.

Harry looked down briefly as the clinks of the hooks clamping on the rings of his equipment hit his ears. The breeze flowed through his dark hair, and he took a deep breath. Turning to the worker, Harry gave a nod and a weak smile. "I'm sure."

Stepping forward to the edge, Harry's body shook. Scenes from the crash played in his mind. One part in particular was when he was frozen as he watched his parents fall to their deaths, and he was pushed over the bridge himself by the blast from the fire.

"I can do this," he said to himself, spreading his arms open. Looking down, Harry's mind played a trick on him, and he saw his mother reaching out for him. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Harry felt a tear stream down his face. "I'm going to save you this time, Mum."

The worker was about to stop Harry, but it was too late as Harry stepped off the platform and fell. The wind brushed against his face roughly; but Harry didn't care. He could only see his mother pleading for him to take her hand, and Harry reached out for her.

" _We love you, Harry."_

Harry's hand closed on the hand in front of him, and he then saw his father's face. Unfortunately, their faces swirled away as he was pulled back up by the elasticity in the bungee cords. It went like that a second time, and Harry managed to grab both their hands.

No matter what anyone said, Harry could tell himself that he got to them this time; he didn't freeze.

* * *

When he returned to ground level, Harry was met with an enraged Hermione with Malfoy by her side.

"Have you lost your mind?" Hermione demanded with her hands on her hips. "We were worried sick! What were you thinking going up there?"

"Just because you're afraid of heights, Granger, doesn't mean the man can't go bungee jumping," Malfoy spoke up with an eye roll.

She huffed and poked Harry in the chest. "If you do anything like that again I'll...I'll…"

"You'll pressure him into reading the thickest book you own?" Malfoy suggested with a smirk.

Hermione groaned in frustration and stomped away. Malfoy snickered before nudging Harry. "You alright there, Potter?"

Harry looked from his hands to Malfoy with a soft smile; he could still feel their hands holding his own. "I'm just fine, Malfoy. Let's go get 'Mione before she finds something to bludger you with."

Malfoy snorted but nodded nonetheless. As the two left on their pursuit, Harry couldn't help but think of how he'd have to go back to the tower for another jump or two.


End file.
